Come, hear a GameSTOP horror story

I was in GameSTOP the other day and something shameful happened.

A 9 years old kid entered the store with a plastic bag full of xbox games, including the GTA double pack, willing to trade them in for something else. The guy behind the counter (a friend of mine) checked the trade-in values on the computer and, hesitating, told him he would give him $1.75 for all (that's 25-50 cents for each game). I offered to buy the GTA pack for $2 and so I did, so he got my $2 + $1.25 for the rest, and still all he could afford was a pack of Yu Gi Oh card he doesn't even collect. Previously he had traded in his xbox for, take a deep breath, $10 (GS employees told me they give you $5 now).

It's a terrible commercial system they set up, ripping off people without giving a damn.

Don't trade in your system and games, sell them in private: how can you be content with 5-10 dollars for your old console? You don't even buy a ticket to the movies with that cash.

This is one of many GameSTOP horror stories. I saw a union called 'Stop GameSTOP' and I really understand them.

Comment on this story or share your own if you wish.

This is why you NEVER trade your games in at Gamestop/EB. Use Goozex instead. $3 to send a game and get points, $1 (and points) to receive a game. The lowest point value they have to offer is $5, and the highest is $50 or so. None of this $1 or 25 cents crap. 've sent out about 5-6 games, and received 4-5 this summer alone. Total cost to me has been about $25.

Yeah that's why I never do business with Gamestop or EB.

A kid that age doesn't really have many other options if he doesn't have any help to sell his games though. I guess that's what they're counting on...

i thought gamestop has a policy prohbiting kids 17 and younger from trading in games.S0lidSnake

they do, this story sounds fishy

People are just plain... well.. stupid sometimes, They want the cash and they want it now. Waiting to get full price on eBay is lame.

I admit, I buy games for mGamespot all the time, used especially if in great condition, but they DO rip consumers off when it comes to this whole trade-in business. I agree with you.

[QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]i thought gamestop has a policy prohbiting kids 17 and younger from trading in games.thanos723

they do, this story sounds fishy

Yes, they do have a policy, but it's like the ESRB age restriction: it's just not applied.

How are they ripping you off??? They don't have to buy old games/consoles back from you. They have no garuntee of the condition of the games or consoles and have no guarantee they will ever sell them.

If you think you can get a better deal somewhere else you should go there instead.

i thought gamestop has a policy prohbiting kids 17 and younger from trading in games.S0lidSnake

Your two dollar purchase is currently worth ~$45.

So sad that GS does not keep up with market trends with cash back, if they would stop regarding previous generations as trash there would never be this argument.

Your two dollar purchase is currently worth ~$45.

SirSpudly

That's the trilogy pack, I got the dual pack (GTA 3+Vice City), 9 bucks used. Gamestop probably sells it for twice as much, can't say, it's not in their database.

Your two dollar purchase is currently worth ~$45.

So sad that GS does not keep up with market trends with cash back, if they would stop regarding previous generations as trash there would never be this argument.

SirSpudly

My friend, trust me, is NOT that they dont' keep up with market trends. Ask yourself this. If a game is worth $45 and somebody was trying to sell you a copy, would you give him/her $45 for it when they would just as well accept $2 for it and giving you a $43 value profit?

Gamestop doesn't give a crap how much a game is worth when they buy it from you. What they care about is how badly they can rip you off so they can maximize their profit on its value.

My friend, trust me, is NOT that they dont' keep up with market trends. Ask yourself this. If a game is worth $45 and somebody was trying to sell you a copy, would you give him/her $45 for it when they would just as well accept $2 for it and giving you a $43 value profit?

Gamestop doesn't give a crap how much a game is worth when they buy it from you. What they care about is how badly they can rip you off so they can maximize their profit on its value.

VMan

He has a point: we all serve our own interest in commercial matters, that's what gamestop is doing and it's their right to offer small amounts of money for things that are worth up to 600% more - but I'm trying to look beyond this point: the problem is not gamestop, yes they rip of people whenever they can, but the real problem are the very people that get a $5 offer for their xbox or PS2 and aren't sharp enough to say 'hell no, I'd rather keep it'. If no more people fall in their trick, they won't be able to continue with it.

A friend of mine actually manages my local GS and frankly, they treat me like royalty. Granted, I spend some serious coin in that place but regardless, I do occasionally trade in junk games taking up space and if you utilize the EDGE card and or any promos you can actually get some pretty decent credit for your games. For example, starting tomorrow, they are running a deal where you get an additional 15 dollars on top of the trade-in value for any three Wii, PS3 or XB360 games. That's a solid deal considering that what I'm trading in is bargain bin fodder taking up space.

I do think that some of the trade in values are pretty ridiculous but at the same time those values or usually determined by the number of trade-ins for a particular title. For example, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 on the XB1 goes for 25 dollars and the PS2 version goes for over 30. Conversely, do people really expect Madden 2003 to trade for much of anything?

Like others have stated, it's our choice to decide when and if to trade. There have been times when I opted to give away games rather than accept paltry trade-in values and there were other times I simply didn't care because they were collecting dust and wasting shelf space.

[QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]i thought gamestop has a policy prohbiting kids 17 and younger from trading in games.Zephgaldarien

Off there just a little in the employee handbook it says pretty clearly that you are not supposed to be able to let people trade in used games, systems, or accessories unless they have proof to be over the age of 18. But most employees don't either

A. Remember this rule or...

B. Don't care about this rule

The kid isn't too right himself buying some Yu Gi Oh cards for the sake of buying them but still that is some stupid crap.nirvana563

This requires a clarification. I don't know how gamestop works in the US, but here they don't hand out cash when you trade in a game, instead they give you an equivalent discount on a purchase to make the same day. So, the kid had to buy something with his $1.25 or lose the money and the cheapest thing was a $2 Yu Gi Oh pack.

Yeah, one of the reasons why I'm really starting to dislike Gamestop is because they're completly phasing out their PC game selection because they can't sell PC games used.

Argh.

A friend of mine actually manages my local GS and frankly, they treat me like royalty. Granted, I spend some serious coin in that place but regardless, I do occasionally trade in junk games taking up space and if you utilize the EDGE card and or any promos you can actually get some pretty decent credit for your games. For example, starting tomorrow, they are running a deal where you get an additional 15 dollars on top of the trade-in value for any three Wii, PS3 or XB360 games. That's a solid deal considering that what I'm trading in is bargain bin fodder taking up space.

I do think that some of the trade in values are pretty ridiculous but at the same time those values or usually determined by the number of trade-ins for a particular title. For example, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 on the XB1 goes for 25 dollars and the PS2 version goes for over 30. Conversely, do people really expect Madden 2003 to trade for much of anything?

Like others have stated, it's our choice to decide when and if to trade. There have been times when I opted to give away games rather than accept paltry trade-in values and there were other times I simply didn't care because they were collecting dust and wasting shelf space.

Grammaton-Cleric

how do you find out about promos that havent started yet?

The same kinda thing happened 2 me

i traded inall of my 14 gamecube games and only got 18 pounds

and my gamecube was worth 3 pounds and each controllr 50p

even though i saw tht they were selling gamecube and xbox conrollers for 5 pounds!

People waaaay shld sell thier games and consoles privately.

I do think that some of the trade in values are pretty ridiculous but at the same time those values or usually determined by the number of trade-ins for a particular title. For example, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 on the XB1 goes for 25 dollars and the PS2 version goes for over 30. Conversely, do people really expect Madden 2003 to trade for much of anything?

Grammaton-Cleric

Marvel vs Capcom 2 is a very rare game, worth alot right now. The Xbox version used goes for about$60-$80 on Ebay, the PS2 version goes for about $80-$120 used. They're ripping you off just like the other games. Now a sealed copy of the PS2 version easily goes for about $300, how do I know this? I own a sealed copy myself that I never got around to play it; one day I decided to sell it (not a big fighting fan) and was just shocked at how much it was going for. I decided to just keep it as a collectors item. What's frightening is that its value is increasing dramatically, due to the fact that you probably see 5-8 games in sealed condition a year on Ebay.

Now that I think about it, I feel like going to one of my local GS and pretend to try to trade in my sealed copy of marvel vs capcom2, I'd like to see the look of the clerks faces :lol: (assuming they're knowledgeble in trade in values)

I only go to Gamestop\Ebgames if theres a deal going on. Such as trade in 2 games, get 1 half price, such and such.

[QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]i thought gamestop has a policy prohbiting kids 17 and younger from trading in games.thanos723

they do, this story sounds fishy

I really doubt a 9 year old could get away with trades ins, unless his folks where there (which the TC doesnt mention).

I really doubt a 9 year old could get away with trades ins, unless his folks where there (which the TC doesnt mention).

Ballroompirate

He was alone when he traded the games. Later I saw him passing in front of the store with his parents, which apparently were too dumb to come in and complain about the speculation.